By Mark Gojszyk (@hahahamark)

Bentleigh Greens has become the only member federation club to progress to the semi-finals of the Westfield FFA Cup, coming from behind to defeat Adelaide City 2-1 in extra time.
 
Adelaide opened the scoring after the break when Alex Rideout tapped in a Shannon Day low ball into the box, and the visitors looked like holding on to the one-goal advantage until captain Wayne Wallace stepped up to head home a Christian Cavallo corner in the 88th minute.
 
Jamie De Abreu, who missed a number of chances throughout the 90 minutes, became Bentleigh’s hero in added time when he struck from outside the 18-yard box to ensure the National Premier Leagues Victoria side would host a semi-final.
 
The Greens looked to stamp their authority on the contest early, pressing City and committing men forward, but Anthony Costa nearly pounced on the counter when he dribbled past two defenders and shot high from distance.
 
Luke Pilkington came close to scoring from a corner minutes later, meeting Cavallo’s in-swinging delivery, but his header was blocked by a number of bodies in the box.
 
In an end-to-end contest, City fashioned the next chance when Jack Webster lost the ball, with Joel Allwright taking possession and crossing in to Costa, whose low shot was held by ‘keeper Alistair Bray.
 
Down the other end, the Greens had the best chance to open the scoring in the 37th minute when a clever passage of play between Wallace, Luke O'Dea and De Abreu ended with the latter’s goal-bound shot blocked by full-back Paul Blefari.
 
Adelaide raced out of the blocks in the second half, scoring in the 47th minute after Costa passed a ball out wide to Day, who played a low delivery into the box for Rideout to tap home.
 
The visitors were looking comfortable with the lead, restricting the Greens to a few long-range efforts.
 
Thomas Love had a golden opportunity to put the game beyond doubt when Allwright dribbled past Jamie Cumming and crossed the ball near the back post, but the midfielder sprayed his volley high.
 
Adelaide was almost made to pay in the 76th minute when a speculative effort by Luke Gallo left 'keeper Ryan Veitch stranded, but the Melbourne Victory youth player’s effort bounced off the crossbar.
 
Greens fans thought their team had the equaliser when Cavallo played De Abreu through on goal with only the ‘keeper to beat, but the winger’s shot dribbled agonisingly wide of the post.
 
One may have assumed the Greens had used up all their chances to equalise, but inspirational captain Wallace thumped in a late header to keep them alive.
 
Cavallo was then inches away from giving his team the lead after the restart, cannoning a free kick into the crossbar.
 
Just minutes later, De Abreu made amends for his earlier misses, receiving a pass from Patrick Avice and smashing in the winning goal from distance in the 104th minute.

Bentleigh held on for the remainder of the contest, restricting Adelaide to a few half-chances and sending the home fans into wild scenes after the final whistle.
 
Winning coach John Anastasiadis was thrilled that his players kept pushing for the equaliser, citing the team’s determination as a key factor in the victory.
 
“The game’s 90 minutes, so I don’t think the game was buried [after Adelaide City’s goal],” Anastasiadis said.
 
“I thought the boys kept at it and after they [Adelaide City] scored the goal, we did drop a bit for about 10 minutes, but the boys found something within them. They didn’t want to lose this game.”
 
Despite being minutes from progressing, Adelaide City coach Damian Mori was still elated with his side’s run in the competition.
 
“I can’t be more proud of my players. I thought my boys have been on a wonderful ride (and) the Cup has been fantastic,” Mori said.
 
“For us, we’ve had four weeks off, we haven’t been playing, the players were pretty committed and we’ve got no regrets - tonight we gave it 100 per cent.”

Bentleigh will on Friday night find out which Hyundai A-League club it will host in the semi-finals.

FULL TIME: Bentleigh Greens 2 (Wallace 88’, De Abreu 104’) defeated Adelaide City 1 (Rideout 48’) at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
 
Bentleigh Greens: 2.Thomas MATTHEWS, 3.James CUMMING, 5.Jack WEBSTER, 7.Jamie DE ABREU, 8.Wayne WALLACE (c), 9.Luke O’DEA (16.Nick TEICHMAN 72’), 12.Luke GALLO, 15.Christian CAVALLO, 19.Liam McCORMICK (4.Patrick AVICE 78’), 21.Alistair BRAY (GK), 24.Luke PILKINGTON
 
Unused subs: 1.Christopher VAN CORLER (GK), 13.Ryan LOSTY, 22.Lewis FOSTER
 
Yellow cards: De Abreu 28’, Gallo 67’, Webster 74’, Cavallo 94’
 
Red cards: None
 
Adelaide City: 1.Ryan VEITCH (GK), 4.Shane TOBIAS (2.Michael ACTON 91’), 5.Matthew HALLIDAY (c), 6.Matthew MULLEN, 7.Joel ALLWRIGHT, 8.Paul BLEFARI, 9.Anthony COSTA, 12.Alex RIDEOUT (3.Alex SUNASKY’), 15.Shannon DAY, 16.Thomas LOVE, 23.Nicholas BUDIN (11.Nicholas BUCCO 60’)
 
Unused subs: 14.Josh MORI, 21.Jackson O’DONNELL (GK)
 
Yellow cards: Rideout 47’, Bucco 65’
 
Red cards: None

Image credit: Getty Images